From 13 - 15 March 2019, IOE had a seat at the table at the 7th Global Policy Forum on Development (PFD) in Brussels, Belgium.

This edition of the PFD took place at a decisive moment in the debate on future EU instruments to enable the delivery of the commitments set out in the new European Consensus on Development, and in advance of the EU’s participation in the voluntary reporting to the UN High-level Political Forum on the Sustainable Development Goals in July.

The Forum deliberated on three key issues:

EU planning to report on and monitor its achievements towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda in collaboration with key development actors;

Financing for development including specific financial instruments; and

How multi-stakeholder partnerships can help to realise development and environmental goals.

The discussions highlighted there can be no “one-size-fits-all” approach to development. IOE underlined the need for more involvement of local private sector representatives so that businesses can play their full role as stakeholders for development and that EU policies should always take into consideration how development action interacts with local, national and regional strategies and policies in order to maximise policy coherence and deliver optimal outcomes.

The next PFD meeting will be the Asia Regional Meeting from 1-2 October 2019 in Nepal. Members in the region are invited to save the dates!

A consultation also took place on the European Investment Plan to provide a space for the private sector to contribute to the Plan’s successful implementation. IOE has made a series of constructive comments on the EIP and requests members in EU Neighbourhood countries and Africa to give any further inputs they may have via the short questionnaire in the resources section of this communication to complement and support IOE comments.

We also provide members with the opportunity to see how they could benefit financially from the plan here: